Marshall Price inquired about the Polyphon Concerto. These enormous
"music boxes" were made in rather limited quantities. They came out
under both the Polyphon and the Regina name, and in both single play
and automatic changer models.
The automatic changer models were especially large and heavy. We have
had three or four of these over the years, and dreaded moving each and
every one. They are, I think, the largest disc operated machine made,
with the discs being about 32" in diameter. For some reason discs are
more common than the machines are.
There is reference to these machines in Q. David Bowers "Encyclopedia
of Automatic Musical Instruments" (we still have these available for
$80 postpaid), and I think it is also covered in "Barrel Organ" by
Arthur Ord-Hume. When properly set up and tuned they are very
interesting machines, but they go out of tune very quickly.
Marty Roenigk
www.mechantiques.com
mroenigk@aol.com
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